Christmas in Auradon
by FaberryAchele
Summary: Mal and Ben spend their first Christmas together. Fluff. One-shot.


„I don't think I'll ever get used to the cold." Mal commented as she tightened her purple scarf around her neck, burying her face into it to protect it from the chilly weather. It was the first Christmas Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos will be spending in Auradon. It was also their first time celebrating Christmas properly with snow and cold weather.

Seeing as their parents were locked away on the island, Ben invited them to his family dinner on Christmas day. Mal heard people give presents their loved ones on the holidays so she thought she would buy a present for Ben but it proved to be more difficult then she thought. She asked Evie to help her so they were walking through several shops one week before Christmas.

"Come on, I like it. I have this Christmas spirit everybody's talking about." Evie answered cheerfully, linking her arm with Mal. "Maybe it'll be nice to celebrate it for once."

"Yeah…I don't think we ever did." Mal said, lowering her gaze to the ground, always getting lost in her head when she's thinking about her mother.

Evie seeing the lost and sad eyes, sighed and tugged Mal into the nearest shop to get her focused onto something else. She opened the door and they stepped inside, sighing in relief as the warm air hit their cold bodies. The shop was just as beautifully decorated as whole Auradon and Evie looked around, amazed. She pulled Mal further in and began to look for presents.

"Mal, look." Evie pointed to a miniature figure of Ben with his head bobbing around whenever you touched it and Mal laughed.

"I don't think Ben would be happy having himself as a doll." Mal smiled, poking Ben's head watching as it bounced, "I tried to get it for him once but he was not amused."

Evie smirked. "I don't know why he wouldn't be."

Mal smiled at Evie then turned around continue to look for something. After half an hour of searching and not finding anything the two girls left the shop and decided to go back to their dorms, seeing as it were getting late.

/

The next day after the last school day Ben knocked on the girls' dorm. He wanted to surprise Mal by taking her to their special place to have some quiet alone time because lately he was busy planning Auradon's Christmas Ball and they didn't have time to really be alone.

Carlos was the one who opened the door and Ben arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, Carlos…Is Mal here?"

"I'm here, Ben." Mal answered laying on her bed and waved Ben into the room. The young King stepped inside and found all four Isle of the Lost kids, hanging around. Despite that Auradon fully accepted them after the coronation day, they were still more comfortable being together instead of hanging around their schoolmates.

"Hey, guys." Ben greeted them and smiled when they greeted him back at the same time.

Mal stood up and smiled softly at Ben, wrapping her arms around his neck, soaking in his scent as he pulled her closer with his arms around her waist. The others smiled lovely at the happy couple but looked away when the embrace wasn't broken after a minute, feeling like they were intruding on a privet moment.

"I missed you." Ben whispered into Mal's hair.

Mal smiled brightly but she still wasn't the best at expressing her feeling toward the boy so she squeezed him tightly and let him go.

"How's the Christmas Ball planning going? You have been MIA for a couple of days." Mal said, stroking Ben's arms softly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry…but it's finally done. Certainly my dad never mention that being the King was going to be this stressful." Ben joked, and smiled when Mal giggled sweetly.

"Well, don't forget you wanted this." Mal played along, really enjoying Ben's company.

Suddenly Ben grew serious and looked deep into her hazel eyes. "Yes, I wanted this and I still do."

Mal's breath got stuck in her throat and couldn't look away from Ben's golden eyes.

"Are you free right now?" Ben asked, breaking the spell they both seemed to fall under.

"I-I…umm…" Mal stuttered and looked over at Evie who was sewing several girls Christmas dresses and Mal promised she would be her model and try on everything.

"Of course, she's free Ben." Evie cut in, determinedly looking at Mal when she tried to protest. "Don't even think about it, just go. The dresses could wait another day."

Mal smiled thankfully at Evie and mouthed her a 'thank you' when Ben was grabbing her coat. After both of them was dressed Ben held the door open and they walked out the room.

/

Their place was even more magical and beautiful covered in snow then Mal remembered. The lake was frozen for a couple of weeks now and she thought about if they could ice skate on it. It looked like Ben planned this date for a few days now since he cleared away the snow on the little island and covered it with blanket and lights and of course strawberry.

Mal laughed loudly at seeing the fruit and turned to a smiling Ben.

"Strawberry, really?"

Ben smiled and nodded, grabbing her hand and helping her to the island. "I know how much you love strawberry so I thought I would bring you some." He helped Mal sat down then he sat down across from her.  
Mal immediately grabbed a strawberry and put it in her mouth, moaning at the taste.

"Are they good?" Ben chuckled.

"Hmmhmm." Mal nodded enthusiastically and as soon as she swallowed the one in her mouth, she grabbed the other one but a thought suddenly entered her mind and instead of eating it she held it out to Ben.  
The king eyes widened at the unexpected gesture but leaned closer happily and let Mal feed him. After that Mal continued to feed him and herself while they talked about their days without really seeing the other.

"Are you nervous about the dinner?" Ben asked softly, wanting to know what was going through Mal's mind.

"A little bit. I've never really celebrated Christmas before so I don't really know what will happen." Mal looked down to see Ben's hand intertwining with her hand.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a simple dinner. And I'll be there, I promise."

"Yeah I know but…your parents are gonna be there and I know now they see more than an evil kid but sometimes it still feels like I have to walk on eggshell around them and don't even get me started on your present…" Mal would've continued rambling more if Ben's hadn't interrupted her.

"What present? Mal you don't have to buy anything for me."

"Well, I mean are you going to give me something?" Mal arched her eyebrow.

"Well, yeah but it's different…" Ben argued.

"How is it different?" Mal wondered.

"I'm your boyfriend, I should be allowed to buy you a present."

"Well then, I'm your girlfriend and I want to give you something. You've been so wonderful and patient with me and I want to show you how grateful I am." Mal said then smiled when Ben shifted closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, kissing her on the cheek.

"You don't have to do anything for me, Mal. I've already have you and that's all I need. I love you."

Mal blushed and broke eye contact, whispering softly, "Thank you."

Ben's heart broke a little at the small voice and the fact Mal thought she had to thank him for loving her. She didn't know Ben couldn't imagine his life without her now and he didn't want to ever experience it. He pulled her closer and kissed on the top of her head, whispering, "No, thank you."

/

Mal sighed as she felt Ben circle his arms around her from behind and leaned against him, watching their friends. The Christmas dinner went better than Mal expected as the atmosphere was light and happy and they laughed their way through the dinner. Mal sat next to Ben at the table, grabbing his hand whenever an unpleasant thought crossed her mind about her upbringing, triggered if somebody said something that reminded her of her mother. Fortunately it didn't happen often so Mal tried to enjoy being surrounded by her friend and her boyfriend.

Currently the villain kids were having a snowball fight outside the garden as Mal and Ben watched them tackling each other into the snow. They laughed when Ben's parents joined them in the fight and Belle stuffed her husband's shirt with snow, making the ex-king shrieked like a girl.

Mal snuggled deeper into her boyfriend's embrace when her vision filled with a perfectly wrapped gift presented in front of her. She gasp and grabbed the present, spinning around to look at Ben. The king had a soft smile on his face.

"Open it." Ben encouraged Mal when the girl continued to watch the gift.

Mal carefully unwrapped the present and opened it. She took a sharp breath as she saw the beautiful bracelet inside the box. She looked up at Ben and got a little teary eyed.

"Oh, Ben...you –"

"Don't say it, of course I had too. It's as beautiful as you are. Well, maybe not as beautiful but pretty close." Ben chuckled and grabbed the bracelet pulling it out of the box. As Mal got a closer look she saw several little charms on it.

Ben grabbed the first one and showed it to Mal. "A sewing machine with a word 'singer' on it to remind you of Evie." Ben grabbed another one, "A dog to remind you of Carlos." He smiled lovingly at the amazement in Mal's eyes and continued, "A pair of hockey sticks for Jay. That was the closest thing I could find to tourney." Mal tearfully laughed at the joke and blushed when Ben wiped her tears, "And a little crown to remind you of me."

Mal let out a small sob when Ben finished and jumped into his arms, holding him closely.

"I know how important they are to you." Ben answered Mal's silent question about how he knew exactly what she wanted even though she, herself didn't. Mal smiled brightly and peck him on the cheek.

"Put it on me?" She asked lowly, looking softly into Ben's eyes. Ben nodded and attached the bracelet to Mal's wrist, kissing the back of her hand afterward.

"I have your present too but now I kind of don't want to give it to you." Mal laughed, wiping away the last tear on her face. "Yours is so much better than mine."

Ben frowned and shook his head. "I already love it."

Mal chuckled and went to her bag at the front door, grabbing the wrapped gift then went back to Ben. She handed him the gift and watched anxiously as he opened it. As Ben teared the paper he realized it was a framed picture and as the paper fall to the floor, the most beautiful picture appeared in front of him.

It was him and Mal as they were standing, forehead to forehead with Mal smiling contently and Ben soaking up her embrace. It was after the coronation ceremony as everybody celebrated the new king and saving Auradon.

Ben glanced up to Mal and couldn't hide the love shining in his eyes as he watched the girl. He pulled Mal closer, wrapping his arm around her waist and touching his forehead to her, similarly to the picture he was holding securely in his hand.

"It's perfect. You're perfect." Ben whispered sweetly.

Mal sighed, closed her eyes and decided to take the giant leap and vocalize her feeling for Ben.

"I love you."

She whispered so softly if Ben wasn't so close to her, he wouldn't have heard it but he did. He smiled contently and kissed her on her forehead, silently promising to love her forever.


End file.
